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The coronavirus pandemic is sweeping through the leadership of Latin America, with two more presidents and powerful officials testing positive this week for the new coronavirus, adding a destabilizing new element to the region’s public health and economic crises.In Brazil, President Jair Bolsonaro, 65, announced his illness Tuesday and is using it to publicly extol hydroxychloroquine, the unproven malaria drug that he’s been promoting as a treatment for COVID-19 and now takes himself.Bolivian interim President Jeanine Añez, 53, made her own diagnosis public Thursday, throwing her already troubled political prospects into further doubt.And in Venezuela, 57-year-old socialist party chief Diosdado Cabello said Thursday on Twitter that he, too, had tested positive, at least temporarily sidelining a larger-than-life figure considered the second-most-powerful person in the country.Another powerful figure, Venezuela’s Oil Minister Tarek El Aissami, announced Friday he has the bug.Bolivia’s interim President Jeanine Anez, wearing a face mask to help curb the spread of the new coronavirus, waves during a procession Corpus Christi, in La Paz, Bolivia, June 11, 2020.An Associated Press review of official statements from public officials across Latin America found at least 42 confirmed cases of new coronavirus in leaders ranging from presidents to mayors of major cities, along with dozens, likely hundreds, of officials from smaller cities and towns. In most cases, high-ranking officials recovered and are back at work. But several are still struggling with the disease.Many leaders have used their diagnoses to call on the public to heighten precautions like social distancing and mask wearing. But like Bolsonaro, some have drawn attention to unproven treatments with potentially harmful side effects.El Salvador’s Interior Minister, Mario Durán, was diagnosed on July 5, becoming the second Cabinet member there to fall ill.“I am asking you, now more than ever, to stay home and take all preventive measures,” he said after his diagnosis. “Protect your families.’’Durán was receiving treatment at home on Friday.Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández announced June 16 that he and his wife had tested positive, along with two other people who worked closely with the couple.The following day the 51-year-old Hernández was hospitalized after doctors determined he had pneumonia. The president’s illness came as the pandemic spread from an early epicenter in the northern city of San Pedro Sula to the capital of Tegucigalpa, where cases surged.Hernández said he had started what he called the “MAIZ treatment,” an experimental and unproven combination of microdacyn, azithromycin, ivermectin and zinc that his government is promoting as an affordable way of attacking the disease. He was released from the hospital July 2.The revelation that Cabello – whose commanding voice resonates from Venezuelan airwaves every Wednesday on his weekly television show – has COVID-19 will likely have a sobering impact on the many people who thought their isolated country was relatively shielded from the virus, said Luis Vicente León, a Venezuelan political analyst.This handout picture released by the Honduran Presidency shows Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez sending a live message to the nation on July 2, 2020, announcing he has recovered from COVID-19.Venezuela – already largely cut off to the outside world before COVID-19 – has had far fewer registered cases than many other countries in Latin America, though in recent weeks the number of new confirmed infections has been steadily increasing.Cabello said he was in isolation while getting treatment. A day earlier, he’d canceled his regular TV appearance, telling followers he was battling “strong allergies.”No information has been released on whether Cabello is hospitalized or what type of medical care he is receiving. Venezuela is considered one of the least prepared countries in the world to confront the pandemic. Hospitals are routinely short on basic supplies like water, electricity and medicine.“I think this shows Venezuela is on the same route all the other countries,” León said.In the Caribbean, Luis Abinader, the newly elected president of the Dominican Republic, contracted and recovered from COVID-19 during his campaign.Like Bolsonaro, many Latin leaders have kept up a schedule of public appearances even as the region has become one of the hardest hit in the world.That poses a growing risk to governance in the region, said Felicia Knaul, a professor of medicine who directs the Institute for Advanced Study of the Americas at the University of Miami.“We’re trying to keep our health providers safe. It’s the same for our government leaders. We don’t want a Cabinet ill and in hospital. It would be tremendously destabilizing in a situation that’s already extremely unstable,” she said. “That’s a reason why being out in public unless everyone around you has masks on is dangerous. They have to be responsible.”Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei placed his entire Cabinet and their staff in quarantine Thursday after one of his ministers tested positive.In Bolivia, officials said the interim president Añez, had not been displaying symptoms and was in good spirits in her official residence on Friday.At least six other Bolivian ministers and vice ministers have been infected, and at least eight staff members.The coronavirus is spreading rapidly in Bolivia, overwhelming the already weak medical system and funeral services to the point where families in the central city of Cochabamba have been holding funerals in the street.With the country in crisis, some polls have shown Añez in last place in a three-way presidential race leading to September elections. Añez, who took office after President Evo Morales was ousted during national unrest last year, does not have a vice president and, if she could no longer serve, the next in the line of succession is Senate President Eva Copa, a member of Morales’ party and a bitter opponent of Añez. 
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The coronavirus pandemic continues to worsen in the United States. On Friday, the country reported more than 65,000 new infections, the latest in a number of record-breaking days.Georgia, Iowa, Montana, North Carolina, Ohio, and Utah set records for daily reports of new infections.The World Health Organization’s emergencies program chief said Friday that the new coronavirus may be here to stay.“In the current situation, it is unlikely we can eradicate the virus,” Dr. Mike Ryan said Friday at the WHO’s regular coronavirus briefing in Geneva.The world could “potentially avoid the worst of having second peaks and having to move backwards in terms of a lockdown” if surges in infections can be extinguished, he added.WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus offered a word of optimism, saying examples around the world have shown that even if the COVID-19 pandemic is “very intense,” it can still be brought back under control.”But Tedros noted that global cases of infections worldwide have more than doubled in the last six weeks alone.The WHO formally acknowledged Thursday that the coronavirus could be spread through the air in crowded, closed or poorly ventilated environments, after initially dismissing the possibility.Australian and U.S. scientists, backed by more than 200 others, wrote this week that studies show “beyond any reasonable doubt that viruses are released during exhalation, talking and coughing in microdroplets small enough to remain aloft in the air.”Motorist wait in lines to get tested at a drive-thru coronavirus testing site at South Mountain Community College, July 9, 2020, in Phoenix, Arizona.More than 12.4 million people have contracted the virus worldwide, according to statistics published Friday by Johns Hopkins University.Many public health experts believe, however, that the number of infections is higher, but many cases go unreported due to a variety of factors, including testing shortages, the lack of transparency among some governments, and COVID-19 deaths attributed to related complications.The U.S. remains the hardest-hit country, with about a quarter of all confirmed infections and fatalities worldwide. As of Friday, 3.1 million people in the U.S. had contracted the coronavirus and more than 134,000 had died from the disease, according to the Johns Hopkins data.Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who announced earlier this week that she has contracted the coronavirus, has made mask-wearing mandatory in her city.Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said in a statement that Bottoms’ order is “nonbinding and legally unenforceable.”Anthony S. Fauci, the top U.S. infectious-disease expert, has warned the pandemic is worsening in the U.S. because the country lacks a coherent strategy to contain the virus.“As a country, when we compare ourselves to other countries, I don’t think you can say we are doing great — I mean, we’re just not,” Fauci said in a recent interview with FiveThirtyEight.Fauci suggested earlier this week that states struggling to combat the virus “should seriously look at shutting down,” despite state efforts to reopen in order to revive their economies.Despite the surge in coronavirus cases in the U.S., President Donald Trump continues to push for the country’s schools to open in the coming weeks. Questions remain about how safe that will be for the children and school personnel.While it is generally believed that the virus does not affect children as adversely as it does adults, children have contracted the virus, and some have died.A Guarani Mimbya Indigenous woman waits to be tested for COVID-19 by health workers from the Butantan Institute in Cananeia, Brazil, July 10, 2020.In Hong Kong, schools will close Monday, beginning the system’s summer vacation period a week sooner than planned. Schools had been closed earlier in the year because of the coronavirus outbreak but were gradually reopened in May. The latest closing follows a spike in new COVID-19 cases, 34 on Thursday and 38 on Friday.The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Friday called the situation in Lebanon “rapidly getting out of control.” The pandemic has exacerbated the worst economic crisis in Lebanon’s history, she said, and the country’s most vulnerable citizens “risk starvation as a result of this crisis.”Bachelet called on the Lebanese government to implement “urgent reforms” to meet “the basic needs of the population.”Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted Friday the decision to allow bars and other businesses to reopen may have been “too soon.” His admission was made as the country’s health ministry reported 1,500 new cases, a record single-day high.A bus driver died in France on Friday. He was beaten earlier this week in Bayonne by passengers who refused his request that they wear face masks, which are mandatory in France on public transportation.  
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U.S. President Donald Trump says he will soon sign an executive order on immigration that includes a path to citizenship for young immigrants who arrived in the United States illegally when they were children.    In an interview with Spanish-language television network Telemundo, Trump said “DACA is going to be just fine,” referring to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program under which young migrants have been allowed to stay in the United States temporarily.     “We’re going to have a road to citizenship,” he said.   However, this “does not include amnesty,” White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement after Trump’s television interview. The White House statement said the executive order would establish a merit-based immigration system and reiterated that Trump would work with Congress on a legislative solution that “could include citizenship, along with strong border security and permanent merit-based reforms,” but no amnesty. The Trump administration has previously tried to end DACA, an Obama-era program that protects more than 700,000 immigrants.  Ivania Castillo from Prince William County, Va., holds a banner to show her support for dreamer Miriam from California, June 18, 2020, in Washington.Trump did not give details about the larger immigration order he says he plans to sign, only saying that it “will include DACA, and I think people are going to be very happy.”  When asked if the measure will be an executive order, as opposed to a congressional bill, Trump said the Supreme Court gave him “tremendous powers” to pass an executive order when they ruled on DACA last month.    The court’s ruling said that the administration had not given adequate justification to rescind DACA. The court’s ruling did not say whether DACA recipients have a permanent right to live in the United States and did not prevent Trump from trying again to end the program.    Deere said Trump is “working on an executive order to establish a merit-based immigration system to further protect U.S. workers.” Trump said he plans to sign it in the next four weeks.     “The president has long said he is willing to work with Congress on a negotiated legislative solution to DACA, one that could include citizenship, along with strong border security and permanent merit-based reforms,” Deere said in a statement.    Republican Senator Ted Cruz criticized Trump’s plans, saying in a tweet, “There is ZERO constitutional authority for a President to create a ‘road to citizenship’ by executive fiat.” Congressional lawmakers have tried on several occasions in recent years to pass comprehensive immigration reform but failed over deep divisions between Republican and Democratic proposals.
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Roughly five hours after an internal email went out to employees telling them to delete the popular video app TikTok from their phones, Amazon appeared to backtrack, calling the ban a mistake. “This morning’s email to some of our employees was sent in error. There is no change to our policies right now with regard to TikTok,” Amazon emailed reporters just before 5 p.m. Eastern time. Spokeswoman Jaci Anderson declined to answer questions about what happened. The initial internal email, which was disseminated widely online, told employees to delete TikTok, a video app increasingly popular with young people but also the focus of intensifying national-security and geopolitical concerns because of its Chinese ownership. The email cited “security risks” of the app.  An Amazon employee who confirmed receipt of the initial email but was not authorized to speak publicly had not seen a retraction at the time of Amazon’s backtrack.  Amazon is the second-largest U.S. private employer after Walmart, with more than 840,000 employees worldwide, and moving against TikTok would have escalated pressure on the app. It is banned on employee phones by the U.S. military and the company is subject to a national-security review of its merger history. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said this week that the government was “certainly looking” at banning the app.  FILE – This Feb. 25, 2020, file photo, shows the icon for TikTok in New York.Chinese internet giant ByteDance owns TikTok, which is designed for users outside of China; it also makes a Chinese version called Douyin. Like YouTube, TikTok relies on its users for the videos that populate its app. It has a reputation for fun, goofy videos and is popular with young people, including millions of American users. But it has racked up concerns such as censorship of videos, including those critical of the Chinese government; the threat of sharing user data with Chinese officials; and violating kids’ privacy. TikTok said earlier in the day that Amazon did not notify it before sending the initial email around midday Eastern. That email read, “The TikTok app is no longer permitted on mobile devices that access Amazon email.” To retain mobile access to company email, employees had to delete the TikTok app by the end of the day. “We still do not understand their concerns,” TikTok said at the time, adding that the company would welcome a dialogue to address Amazon’s issues. A spokeswoman did not immediately reply to a request for comment Friday evening. TikTok has been trying to appease critics in the U.S. and distance itself from its Chinese roots, but finds itself caught in an increasingly sticky geopolitical web. It recently named a new CEO, former Disney executive Kevin Mayer, which experts said could help it navigate U.S. regulators. And it is stopping operations in Hong Kong because of a new Chinese national security law that led Facebook, Google and Twitter to also stop providing user data to Hong Kong authorities.  Pompeo said the government remained concerned about TikTok and referred to the administration’s crackdown on Chinese telecom firms Huawei and ZTE. The government has tried to convince allies to root Huawei out of telecom networks, saying the company is a national-security threat, with mixed success; Trump has also said he was willing to use Huawei as a bargaining chip in trade talks. Huawei has denied that it enables spying for the Chinese government. “With respect to Chinese apps on people’s cell phones, I can assure you the United States will get this one right too,” Pompeo said, and added that if users downloaded the app their private information would be “in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.” A U.S. national-security agency has been reviewing ByteDance’s purchase of TikTok’s precursor, Musical.ly. Meanwhile, privacy groups say TikTok has been violating children’s privacy, even after the Federal Trade Commission fined the company in 2019 for collecting personal information from children without their parents’ consent. Amazon may have been concerned about a Chinese-owned app’s access to employee data, said Susan Ariel Aaronson, a professor at George Washington University and a data governance and national-security expert. China, according to the U.S. government, regularly steals U.S. intellectual property. Part of Amazon’s motivation with the ban, now apparently reversed, may also have been political, Aaronson said, since Amazon “doesn’t want to alienate the Trump administration.” Amazon and its founder, Jeff Bezos, are frequent targets of President Donald Trump. Bezos personally owns The Washington Post, which Trump has referred to as “fake news” whenever it publishes unfavorable stories about him. Last year, Amazon sued the U.S. government, saying that Trump’s “personal vendetta” against Amazon, Bezos and the Post, led it to lose a $10 billion cloud computing contract with the Pentagon to rival Microsoft. Meanwhile, federal regulators as well as Congress are pursuing antitrust investigations at Amazon as well as other tech giants. TikTok has content-moderation policies, like any social network, but says its moderation team for the U.S. is led out of California and it doesn’t censor videos based on topics sensitive to China and would not, even if the Chinese government asked it to. As for sharing U.S. user data with the Chinese government, the company says it stores U.S. user data in the U.S. and Singapore, not China; that its data centers are outside of China; and it would not give the government access to U.S. user data even if asked. Concerns about China are not limited to the U.S. India this month banned dozens of Chinese apps, including TikTok, because of tensions between the countries. India cited privacy concerns that threatened India’s sovereignty and security for the ban. India is one of TikTok’s largest markets and had previously briefly banned the app in 2019 because of worries about children and sexual content.   
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The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah is intensifying efforts to open a new border crossing between Lebanon and Syria, local sources and Arab media reported this week.The Iranian-backed Shiite group has been constructing an unofficial crossing along Lebanon’s eastern border with Syria, according to pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat.Workers commissioned by Hezbollah have been working intensively in recent days to pave a road for the crossing, said a local source in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley region.The source, who insisted on anonymity for fear of retribution from Hezbollah, told VOA that militants affiliated with Hezbollah have been using the route for years to transport fighters and weapons between the two countries, “but it looks like they want to prepare it for civilian use as well.”Backed by IranHezbollah has been a major actor in Syria’s civil war since 2012, siding with the government of President Bashar al-Assad. With support from Iran, the group has deployed thousands of fighters to Syria in recent years.A voice recording about the development was widely circulated on social media last week. In the clip, a Hezbollah commander purportedly said the construction of this border crossing “is a message to the enemies inside and outside [Lebanon that] soon convoys will pass through here.”VOA couldn’t independently verify the authenticity of the recording.Hezbollah officials have not made any public statements about these reports. Two pro-Hezbollah members of the Lebanese parliament did not respond to VOA’s request for comment in time for publication.Jerry Maher, a Lebanese political analyst, said Hezbollah and its networks have long been using illegal routes for smuggling between Lebanon and Syria, but the opening of an “actual border crossing” would likely facilitate further activities by the militant group that violate international sanctions.“Hezbollah benefits from such activities by smuggling certain foodstuffs and medicine from Syria into Lebanon and selling them to its supporters [for] relatively cheap prices,” he told VOA.Caesar sanctions’ impactLebanon has been going through a major economic crisis because of the COVID-19 pandemic and continued political turmoil. COVID-19 is the disease caused by the new coronavirus.Hezbollah, which largely controls the Lebanese government, has accused the United States of preventing the flow of dollars to the tiny Middle Eastern country. U.S. officials, however, accuse Hezbollah of hoarding and smuggling dollars.The U.S. considers Hezbollah a terrorist organization.FILE – A Hezbollah fighter looks toward Syria while standing in the fields of the Lebanese border village of Brital.Through illegal border crossings such as the one being constructed now, analyst Maher said, “Hezbollah smuggles out fuel and U.S. dollars to help the Syrian regime and by extension the Iranian regime.”“In the past, Hezbollah’s use of such illegal routes was to benefit its allies in Syria and Iran,” Maher added. “Now, however, these activities will boost up Hezbollah’s finances as it goes through difficulties.”The U.S. last month introduced new economic sanctions against the Syrian government under a measure known as the “Caesar Act.”The new sanctions are named after a Syrian military photographer who fled Syria in 2013 with thousands of photos documenting torture of people by security forces in government prisons.Experts believe Lebanon’s dependence on Syria’s economy will exacerbate its financial crisis. Hence, Hezbollah has begun looking for ways to increase its revenue.“In terms of commercial needs, [illegal border crossings] serve Hezbollah’s drug smuggling and handle some of their trading going on in Syria,” said Phillip Smyth, an expert on Shiite militias at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.“I’m not saying it’s not easy for them to use more official transit routes, but this way they can manage them much better and pay fewer kickbacks to Syrian or Lebanese authorities,” he told VOA.Avoiding watchtowersThe newly paved road, which would be used for the crossing, is reportedly outside the reach of 30 watchtowers set up by the British military in support of the Lebanese military.Britain has helped install watchtowers along Lebanon’s border with Syria to prevent potential infiltration by Syrian-based extremist groups, including Islamic State.“The Lebanese army can easily control these borders and stop the smuggling if there is a serious political decision to control the borders, especially since there are observation towers provided by the U.K. that have been installed along the eastern borders,” Khalil al-Helou, a retired Lebanese army general, told the Dubai-based al-Arabiya news channel on Thursday. “Four U.K. ground regiments have been formed for the Lebanese army to monitor these borders.”Al-Helou added that Hezbollah militants have used about 160 illegal routes and border crossing points between Lebanon and Syria over the years.Contacted by VOA, the Lebanese Ministry of Defense declined to comment.Israeli stanceIsrael considers Hezbollah a major threat to its security. Since the outbreak of the Syrian conflict, Israel has frequently carried out airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in Syria.In recent months, Israeli officials have voiced concerns that Hezbollah is seeking to build production facilities to make precision-guided missiles.Smyth of the Washington Institute said the new border crossing would be “very important for [Hezbollah] due to weapons smuggling, particularly pieces for their rockets and guidance equipment.”But Jonathan Spyer, a researcher at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, said Israel should be able to observe the area effectively since “Israel’s intelligence coverage of Lebanon and Syria is generally considered good.”“If weapons and guidance systems are in the vicinity, they will be as vulnerable to Israeli air power as other sites in Syria,” Spyer told VOA.“I think Israel’s interest in the area will be limited to the issue of weapons.”
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With only hours to go before a mandate to deliver aid across the border from Turkey into northwest Syria was due to expire Friday, Russia and China vetoed a U.N. resolution extending that assistance for six more months, threatening to totally shut down the operation. “The [U.N. Security] Council must reach a solution to ensure this critical lifeline for the Syrian people,” Germany and Belgium said in a joint statement after the vote on the resolution they drafted. “Germany and Belgium are committed to this end. We will continue to advocate for extending the legal basis underpinning cross-border assistance.” The council has been in a stalemate after multiple rounds of voting, vetoes and negotiations this week failed to yield a compromise to keep the cross-border aid operation moving. Diplomats said after the failed vote that the council would convene in closed consultations to discuss next steps. The United Nations and aid partners say some 3 million people in northwest Syria benefit from assistance that flows through the two crossings, known as Bab al-Salam and Bab al-Hawa. FILE – A Syrian truck carrying Turkish goods enters from Bab al-Salam point near the city of Azaz, Syria, Aug. 20, 2018.Germany and Belgium’s draft called for a six-month reauthorization of the two crossings until January – a compromise from their earlier request for one year. Russia and China have repeatedly tried to reduce the number of crossings (from two to one) and the length of the mandate (they prefer only six months), but have found little appetite or support for that among the other 13 council members. Russia’s proposalAs the clock continued to run out, Russia tried a final time on Thursday evening to influence the negotiations on Belgium and Germany’s draft resolution, putting forward a rival draft of its own. That text proposes keeping only the Bab al-Hawa crossing, but for one year, instead of six months. “We categorically reject claims that Russia wants to stop humanitarian deliveries to the Syrian population in need,” Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador, Dmitry Polyanskiy, wrote on Twitter Thursday evening. “Our draft is the best proof that these allegations are groundless.” FILE – A Free Syrian Army flag flies at Bab al-Hawa crossing point in Syria, July 8, 2017.Moscow, a staunch ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has argued that all aid should go through Damascus to other parts of Syria. The areas served by the operation from Turkey assist people in parts of the country outside government control. The U.N. and humanitarian groups have requested more access and crossing points, not fewer. The U.N. has asked the council to reauthorize use of a crossing from northern Iraq that was used for medical supplies, especially as Syria is now facing COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Russia and China forced the council to close that crossing in January. “Shutting the two northwest crossings could be a virtual death sentence for many of the millions of Syrians who rely on aid to survive,” said Louis Charbonneau, U.N. director at Human Rights Watch. “But it’s not too late for Moscow to change course.” It was not clear yet whether or when council members might vote on the Russian draft resolution. UN: More aid needed”Council members have spent months debating how to pressure Russia and ensure aid continues to flow into Syria,” said Ashish Pradhan, senior U.N. analyst at the nonprofit International Crisis Group. “That Moscow has yet again backed them all into a corner and is on the verge of further reducing aid confirms that the Russians are not bothered by other states’ moral attacks and pleas at the U.N.” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said this week: “With 2.8 million people in need and 2.7 million internally displaced people, needs for those in northwest Syria remain incredibly high. We have significantly increased the aid delivered via cross-border operations into the area, but much more is needed.” In addition to conflict and COVID-19, Syria faces a crippling financial crisis. Its currency, the pound, is in free fall, commodity prices are skyrocketing, and many Syrians are struggling to afford food, making them even more reliant on humanitarian assistance.
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Coronavirus has been found for the first time in Syria’s northwestern, rebel-held territory that is home to overcrowded camps for displaced people.The infected person is a doctor in Idlib who isolated himself as soon as he displayed symptoms.  Officials say anyone who came in contact with him will be tested.The UOSSM (Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations) medical charity said in a statement the virus could “spread through refugee camps like wildfire.”   Hong Kong closes schools
Elsewhere, all Hong Kong schools will be closed Monday, beginning the system’s summer vacation period a week sooner than planned. Schools had been closed earlier in the year because of the coronavirus outbreak, but were gradually reopened in May.   The new closing follows a spike in new COVID-19 cases, 34 on Thursday and 38 on Friday.
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The novel coronavirus has reportedly infected 28 Georgian soldiers in the NATO Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan.  
 
The infected soldiers have been transported back to their country and are undergoing treatment in a military hospital, local media quoted Georgia’s Ministry of Defense as saying. It described the health condition of the soldiers as “satisfactory.”
 
A spokesman for the non-combatant military alliance in Afghanistan, when contacted for comments Friday, referred VOA to Georgian defense officials to talk about the status of their forces.  
 
“Resolute Support does not confirm individual case numbers. Protection of the force from all threats, to include COVID-19, remains our top priority,” said the spokesman.
 
Georgia is said to be the largest non-NATO contributor to the 38-nation military mission in Afghanistan with around 900 soldiers.   
 
The military alliance has reported several cases of infections since the pandemic reached Afghanistan four months ago without disclosing the nationalities of those suffering from the virus.
 
As of Friday, the official tally of coronavirus cases in Afghanistan stood at about 34,000, with nearly 1,000 deaths.
 
Afghan public health officials, however, have warned that the actual numbers are much higher, citing limited testing capacity, among other challenges facing the war-hit health care system. They anticipate that more than half of the country’s estimated 37 million population could become infected in the coming months.
 
NATO has lately stepped up cooperation with Afghan national security forces to help them fight the pandemic by providing supplies of personal protective medical equipment, including 1.4 million masks, 500,000 gloves and 460,000 gowns.
 
The virus is reportedly sweeping through Afghan military and police forces. The Afghan defense ministry, however, denies any large scale infections among security forces.  
 
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